Overview

Originally published in 2003 following the Second Intifada, a series of powerful conversations with Israeli soldiers who refused to serve in the West Bank and Gaza. In 2002, fifty-two members of the Israel Defense Forces signed an open letter, published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, detailing why they refused to serve in Gaza and the West Bank. A year later, the movement counted more than five hundred of these “refuseniks.” In a series of moving and provocative conversations, nine members of the movement tell why they refused “to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel, starve, and humiliate an entire people.” These nine refuseniks are sergeants, majors, or lieutenants; their names are Guy, Assaf, Rami, Yaniv, Tal, Shamai, Yuval, Ishay, and David. They tell of their individual family backgrounds and beliefs, and as they share their stories of personal and moral struggle, they also raise the disturbing issue of human rights abuses by the Israeli army in the occupied territories. Through these personal accounts, the refuseniks offer new perspectives on entrenched ideas about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Their voices carry a message that is much needed and sorely lacking in our discourse about the current crisis: one of hope and humanity.

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9781590510995

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Military service is an integral part of life in Israel: both men and women serve in the Israel Defense Forces; devotion to the country's survival is a given. So disobeying an order is a remarkable action - one discussed in depth here by nine 'refuseniks,' Israeli soldiers who refused to serve in the Occupied Territories. They tell Chacham...about their upbringings, their crises of conscience, the mistreatment of Palestinians by themselves and others, their attempt to reconcile support for Palestinian rights with devotion to their homeland, their refusals to serve and the consequences. Anyone trying to understand why these men have taken the action they have will be moved by their thoughtfulness and articulateness. - Publishers Weekly; This book should be read by those of all political views concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These accounts and interviews will surprise, sadden, shock, infuriate, but most of all, stimulate open-minded readers to consider alternatives to their strongly held views. This is an ultimately hopeful book. I was profoundly moved by it. - David Gordis, President, Hebrew College; Ronit Chacham's exemplary oral history and commentaries portray in depressing yet hopeful detail those courageous and principled Israelis who have refused to participate as soldiers in Israel's occupied Palestinian lands....An end to the bitter civil war may not be in sight, but at least we have these remarkable men to prove that war and killing never brings peace and that some are brave enough to say 'No.' - The Jewish Peace Fellowship

Author Information

Ronit Chacham, a native of Israel currently living in Jerusalem, is a widely published cultural critic who contributes regularly to news magazines in Israel. She is also the author of numerous works of fiction, including children's books, short stories, and plays.

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